TOPIC: I have learned alot now concerning Moss Guys

Guy

Thank you bro for sharing that with me I have never herd of that,I can tell by your thoughts that you did enjoy that time.I also can tell that it was a mans job to say the least....very interesting to me,thanks again for sharing that,Billy.


guy wrote:

Billy, when I was a wanker we cut spagnum moss out of the boreal forest swamps, way up north. We used a chainsaw with a 48 inch blade and cut blocks about 3 foot by 6 foot by 3 foot thick out of the spagnum swamps. Each block about 200 pounds and was carried out on a wooden stretcher type thing by two men.These blocks were like sponges,black tea would pour out of these blocks the whole time. We piled it up to dry in an area were a backhoe could get in. Man that was work, soaking wet in the sun all day and you had to wear canvas pants for protection, 90 plus degrees, horse flies chewin your head all the time and stinkin of old swamp.The buyer told us that the mosss on the bottom of the blocks were a couple hundred years old. The stuff wouldn't rot because of the acidity of the water and the lack of oxygen.
Any way enough of the past, we sold it to a tree nursery that grew the plants in plastic tubes filled with the moss. They were used in reforestation. Tree planting now that is another story, even tougher work depending on location but it was one of the best times of my life.

Hope it helps you out
guy

Guys you remember earlyer a few mounths ago I started this thread and I was learning about moss,well I have learned alot now.


Well I realy enjoy hunting and drying moss and it is a great l8 winter early spring hobby and profitable and great to keep away cabin fever.Thought I would update you guys on what I have found out.It is widely used for landscape and floral arrangement.

This photo is about 3 weeks ago on a moss hunt and this is sheet moss or log moss as many refer to it.

Once we harvest the moss we take it back home and I have built drying fences for the moss.I raised the wire 3 to 4 feet off of the ground using circled wire or chicken wire to let air circulate from below and above and create even air flow.

I did this to give the moss the correct drying procedure.This allows it to dry with out making it to dry (brikley,dusty etc) and allows the buyer a safe shipment and a higher rate of overall sucsess replanting if using it for landscape.

Caleb and John Are laying out moss.Old Caleb likes Mossing also, I should have known that he would.

Some thick moss such as this Cedar Moss is heavy and needs stronger support so I used rabbit wire and stouter made tables for the weight and this works very good for thick mosses like this.

Well guys hope you enjoyed seeing how I have done on my Moss interest and will tell you this it is another very healthy hobby just as our beloved gonseng hunting is and it is also profitable,but the thing I love about it most is it is reused in peoples homes and yards etc and is enjoyed by many others as well as your sef.

And last but not least it keeps me from getting to cramped for lack of something to do or as we all say !!! It keeps me from getting Cabin Fever

Billy.

That's pretty interesting Billy. I have brought in fresh moss to start on rocks and things around backyard ponds I've put in, but never really thought much about it being a profitable hobby.

I have to wonder, does the moss grow back on the logs you've harvested? How long before you can reharvest an area?

So Billy,

Is there a big market for moss? I would have thought it would be hard to sell? Thanks for the info.

mhowa

Bcastle thanks and yes moss can be profitable indeed it is something that want make a guy rich but will indeed add to the income and is very interesting and fun to do,to me any way...I actualy realy enjoy the harvest time that I have chose to find and harvest and also to purchase.If the days are not to cold and the moss not frozen starting in Dec: and then through Feb: is excellent for moss.It lives good for resale fresh and it drys good for other areas of sale during this time frame.As the warm weather arrives it is more diffucult to transplant fresh moss and the snakes become a factor,spiders etc.

mhowa your welcome and there is a good market for moss available it is a little diffucult getting started but with good quality moss as soon as you do get started it gets easyer and takes off.

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Some interesting facts concerning moss,

Mosses and liverworts are known as bryophytes. Adult bryophytes produce the sex cells. Fertilized female eggs then grow into a stalked sporophyte, or spore capsule. Once they are released, the spores develop into the next generation of moss.Spores are minute, independent cells. Unlike sex cells, spores can divide on their own to make many-celled bodies. They have a simple structure, which consists of genetic material encased in a protective coat that can survive dry conditions. When spores land on damp ground, they grow into a plant that produces sex cells.

Moss is much less complex than other plants and reproduce using spores, which are tiny and found in the ground, air, trees.Moss typically needs large amounts of water to form and reproduce.They can tolerate dry spells or even drying out themselves.Mosses like sphagnum hold large amounts of water in the leaves' dead cells.Mosses are sensitive to copper salts and have trouble forming in this kind of soil. Moss grows especially well in moist, shady areas.

When spores from another moss plant come into contact with rain or water, its spores form into new plants. Since the spores are so tiny, it needs only the tiniest plant for them to reproduce.

Despite moss's simplistic biological characteristics, it covers an estimated 1 percent of the earth's surface, equal to half the United States, according to Ohio State University Horticulture and Crop Science's Michael Knee. (I thought that was prety amazing in its self)

Thanks for reading and checking out my new found interest in moss,

Billy.

Billy
Is the rock moss different than log moss and how is the best way to harvest it?

rootman

Very Interesting! How do you sell it, by the pound or yard? Is there a different price for different mosses? Is there any state laws on harvest crossing state lines etc? Something I'll be looking into. Thanks Billy.

you can put the moss in a blender with milk and blend it , then strain the milk to keep the large particals out then put the milk in to a bean sprayer. Spray the milk/moss spray on to rocks and logs that you want moss to grow. You will have lots of moss then!